Take me to the riverbed, David.
Let the sunset sleep on my shoulder
and your hand on my chest.
Kiss me o David, let the moon
touch my skin and your lips
touch my heart. O David, touch me
in the secret places, no longer secret
because each question
now will be an addendum to my life.
Love me like a memory, o David.
Hold each hand in that mad dance
that made God call you their beloved.
I am not here David.
I must return to my fathers,
to hold their hollow eyes in my hands.
But i love you o David;
you are the sum total of the world;
the war, the sin, the love.
I love you David, i repeat,
like a broken tape the incantation
to your holy of holies.
Be my goddess O David,
be the muse, the camel driving me
through the desert, the eagle
perched on my sternum,
the lioness eating my days.
Love me o David, please,
before this song wrests silence
from my throat and a stake
finds my bones. You are the epitome of glory.
You glorify, i lie in the dust simply worshipping
all the parts of you that are sentient.
Love me o David, or hate me like addiction;
leaving me in the morning only to sidle
beside me like a ghost in the evening.
Take me to riverbed, David.
Let the river’s mutter be the only song
that paddles me to your throne.
This poem is dedicated to a friend, a poet named Hope. She is good. I named her David for reasons that include a conversation we had just before I wrote the poem. Enjoy.